On a visit to the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston recently, I was delighted to see a new book on prominent display in the gift shop: The Rose Book published by Phaidon. It opens with essays by Amy de la Haye, Victoria Gaiger, and Kristine Paulus before delving into 220 curated images of works featuring the rose across a range of disciplines, from painting to fashion to architecture. I firmly associate this book with art, which is why I was amused to find it categorized on the Phaidon website under “Home and Garden.”
The hard cover and spine are textured, with the letters of the title debossed. The vibrant colors promise more captivating visuals inside. For us perfume lovers, Victoria Gaiger has written an essay entitled “The Scent of the Rose,” tracing the history of the flower in perfumery and detailing the process of its harvest and extraction.
No rose book would be complete without some fragrant examples, although it quickly becomes apparent how vast the influence of the rose really is. This oughtn’t be surprising, given that over 300 species and more than 30,000 varieties of rose exist! The text often discusses the fragrance, or lack thereof, emitted by a particular specimen depicted.
Images are cleverly arranged such that although they are not grouped by themes, each spread presents visual parallels between the left and the right pages. The text under each image is a mini lesson on the work and contextualizes it with other works described in the book. Each is a reminder that an object often represents a far wider subject than the eye can see.
The Rose Book includes a glossary of rose types and a list of rose gardens and festivals around the world. I’m glad I’ve been to one in the United States, the International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon.
To quote Amy de la Haye in her essay, “Roses in Fashion,” “It truly seems as though the rose will never go out of fashion.” I would recommend The Rose Book to lovers of roses, books, art, photography… who doesn’t ever take inspiration from the queen of flowers?
Nose Prose 
I WANT this book. Looks like essential reading and viewing for rose lovers.
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The good news is, it was published only this year, so should be relatively easy to obtain!
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The book cover and premise is genius, Nose Prose. The book cover and premise is genius, Nose Prose. I love the electric graphic elements of the cover design. It seems that there is plenty of content for perfume, garden and rose enthusiasts alike. Thanks for sharing.
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Genius, of the genus Rosa! Part of the joy is discovering other themes through one interest, such as perfumery.
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I find it amusing that the first sentence of my comment was repeated for no apparent reason. 🤣 Yes, you’re absolutely right, Nose Prose. I appreciate the concept.
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Such a pretty book & beautiful premis. I have so many hardback & paperbacks still to read, yet almost always pick up my Kindle when I want to read.
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The paper in this one is thick and shiny, and has that “new book” smell, so it’s definitely a sensory experience.
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This looks like a brilliant book, Nose Prose. Art galleries and museums always seem to curate an excellent range of books. You reminded me that I bought a couple of perfume books (The Story of Perfume and Kew Garden from Plant to Perfume) from the Gallery of Modern Art here in Brisbane at the start of this year. They’re sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. Thanks for the prompt and the rose book recommendation. I’ll see if I find it here.
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Agree, and they usually have a great selection of “objets” and wearable art as well! I often enjoy the gift shops as much as the museums themselves. Your books sound like good reads too, and more reviews waiting to be written. 😉
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